Fate:Stay
by Vahlite
Summary: Rena is a cheerful songwriter who gets pulled into a world of power-hungry Royals. Raven, who was betrayed by his closest friend, had his lover killed. See how these two meet and change both of their worlds. Contains mostly RavenXRena... With hints of ElswordXAisha and ChungXEve.
1. Prologue

**A/N: My first story in Fanfiction. Please do give constructive criticism.**

* * *

**Fate:Stay - Prologue –**

**Raven POV**

I should've listened to Seris and ran away with her sooner. Should've at least kept her warnings of Alex's betrayal in my mind. I had refused to run, claiming that Alex would never betray us. With my fist clenching in regret, I thought of the things that will never happen now. Marrying Seris, having children, and living my life to its fullest.

But now, it's all too late. Far too late to do anything. My beloved's corpse lay in the grass, her blood staining it crimson red. I touched her beautiful face, carving it into my brain. She looked as if she was only sleeping, with her eyes closed and her hair fanned out in the grass. _How much do I wish that's true._

I heard maniacal laughter behind me and turned to look at the culprit. The reason for her death stood right in front of me.

The devil himself stood at the edge of the clearing. His eyes glittered with a combination amusement and malice. Had the situation been different, I would've marveled at the fact that the Devil was my former best friend, Alex.

"I told you already Raven, if I can't have her, no one will." His smug voice irked me. I didn't want to hear the voice of my betrayer. Then again, I won't live long enough to hear it again.

"Just kill me already." I really didn't care any more about my life. She was my life. My fiancé was dead and I will follow her to where she is now. Wherever she goes, I go.

"What's the magic word?" His voice taunted me not wanting to give me the release death gave.

I looked at him, my eyes hollow and lifeless.

"Please." I begged, desperate to leave this world and join my fiancé. Pride did not stop me from begging the person who betrayed me.

The Devil only sneered. _Alex, what have you become?_

"Very well. Death will welcome you as it welcomed her. Of course there is a price."

"Anything," I said. _Anything as long as I join her._

"Then die slowly, my dear best friend." He smirked. Using his long scythe, he quickly sliced off my left arm.

I gasped in pain. Holding onto what's left of my arm, I glared at him through a haze of pain.

"I never said it would be painless." Alex looked at me and smirked again. "Letting you die like this... You should know your status, commoner."

He turned to leave but stopped. He then whispered loud enough for me to hear. "You should've gave up on her and broke off the engagement before things came to this." He sounded almost like he regretted doing this.

"But I loved her too, Alex." I could never forgive him for doing this. Even if he was in love with Seris as well.

Alex turned again. This time he looked at me in the eyes. An emotion flickered in his own eyes; I recognized it as hatred. Hatred for everyone and everything, including himself.

"Everything," he snapped, "everything is your fault!" With those words, he left without a backwards glance.

And so it seems that he blames me for this.

"Seris..." I whispered softly to her lifeless body. "I will join you soon."

My vision was already getting blurry from the loss of blood. I looked at my beloved's face one last time. I wanted to her face to be the last thing I saw.

I closed my eyes, welcoming death. But for some strange reason, I heard clicking noises near me. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw many robotic machines moving slowly around me. _They must be Nasods_.

_What could they be here for? Nasods don't usually mingle with humans, especially ones that are about to die._

By now, I felt light-headed. _Is this what it feels like to die?_

With my last slowing breaths, I heard something rather odd.

"King of Nasods, we have found the human You are looking for. He is slowly dying. Do You wish for us to keep him alive?" an emotionless voice droned.

After a pause, the emotionless voice continued, "Very well my King, we will keep him alive until you wish to experiment on him."

_Keep me alive? Experiment?_ Alarm filled me when I heard those words. _No! I wanted to join Seris._

The alarm on my face must have warned them of my refusal to comply with their orders because, minutes later, I felt a cold needle prick my neck. Before long, my head spun as I lost consciousness.

That day, I died. But, on that same day, I was also reborn. _As a monster._

* * *

**A/N:** **I revised it, thanks to RubyCrusade's review. (Edited 7/28/13)**

**To RubyCrusade:** **Thank you so much for reviewing it! It showed me everything that I was doing wrong. Don't worry about being harsh, if you don't mind can you do that everytime you review (that is if you want to review my stories)? Criticism helps me see my flaws easier. And... OMG! I thought my summary sucks! I'm still trying to think about another one but... I'm not good at those things sigh... Anyway MANY THANKS FOR REVIEWING!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 1 –**

**Rena POV**

I live in the spotlight.

Wait, sorry, let me rephrase that alarming, misleading statement.

I write songs that let Elsword's girlfriend, Aisha, be in the spotlight. Confused? Let me just say this: The spotlight is a scary place to be. Besides, there is nothing wrong with composing songs.

"Rena! Hey, Rena, snap out of it!" Aisha waved her fingers in front of me. "Don't lose focus now. I'm about to go on stage!"

I blinked once. "Sorry, Aisha." Aisha was the idol I wrote songs for. She was about twenty-five years old, give or take, and was really beautiful with long violet hair and matching amethyst eyes. Like I said, before she was dating Elsword, my sort-of adoptive father. He had found me in the woods of Virginiasinging my favorite song, "Always." He was only twenty then and I was ten, but he pretty much adopted me and we got along well enough until Aisha came a few years ago.

These days, he spent more time with Aisha than with me. I shouldn't be possessive of Elsword but... I haven't seen or heard from him in a week! It used to be that we never go a day without seeing each other. But now... We don't even see each other anymore.

Aisha patted her bangs and straightened her clothes. "Do I look ready?" she asked her manager, Chloe.

"You look great! Now go on stage and sing!" Chloe smiled and gave her a little push and Aisha left to sing.

As soon as she left, Chloe turned to me and frowned. "Rena, we need to have a little talk on your composing skills."

"Why? I thought you said the sales were great!" I was surprised and a bit shocked.

"Yes, the sales were good but not enough to make her famous." Chloe shook her head. "Sadly, Rena, as Aisha's manager, I cannot allow her to sing songs that won't make her famous."

"But I-I..." I was stuttering. How could this happen? I thought I was doing great.

"No, Rena. After tonight, we don't need you and your composing services anymore. We will hire a more professional composer to take your place."

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

"Bastard, stop right now if you want to live!" Alex's right-hand man, Boron chased after me.

"Who in hell would stop running if you're trying to catch them?" I yelled back. I was running from Alex's men because he found out that I was alive and had a bounty on my head. Two billion ED in Elriosto be exact.

Not that I'm bragging or anything. It's actually a lot of trouble.

The leader, Alex, of course, decided to turn in me in hopes of gaining favor with the Royals. I ran away as soon as I heard, but I guess not soon enough?

_-Flashback-_

_I was walking to Echo's workplace so that she can make the weekly checkup on my arm. The weekly checkup was required by Echo ever since she found out that my arm was acting…. Weird._

_Today she took one look at my arm and sadly said (while licking her lollipop), "Suru, with your arm acting up like this it's only a matter of time before your sanity is lost… I'm not sure on what to do but for now I will have to conduct more experiments on it."_

_I shuddered but agreed to it. Echo was only trying to help me. I don't want to lose my sanity… Again. _

_As I mused over what she said, Echo looked behind me and waved. "Suru Chung!"_

_I snapped out of my thoughts to greet Chung, but I took one look at him and knew something was wrong. He was in his Berserk mode. It's a well-known fact that Chung only goes into Berserk mode when he's about to go into battle._

_Before I could say anything Chung had grabbed me by the collar and asked me a question I didn't want to answer. "Are you a rebel too, Raven?"_

_My eyes widened in surprise. How did he find out?_

_He took my silence as an answer. "How could you Raven? I thought we were friends!"_

_"How did you find out?" I managed to choke out from his tight hold on me. I had tried my best to be friends with Chung even though his boss was Alex. I had even told Chung to keep myself a secret from Alex. Echo stared at both of us in confusion, not knowing what to do to help._

_Chung looked at me with betrayal and guilt in his eyes. "I wanted to find out more about you so I asked my boss Alex and…When I showed him your picture he told me everything about you, including the fact that you were one of those rebels that killed my father!"_

_What? That can't be true! I don't remember killing his father! I didn't betray Chung… He betrayed me by showing my picture to Alex! I've been staying as far as I could from him…. So all that came to nothing, huh?_

_Kicking him in the stomach to let me down I ran away as fast as I could. _

_I have to get away from Alex. I knew that if I even take one look at his face, I would lose control of my arm. The place farthest from Elrios is Earth. Elrios is a dangerous place to be right now. I have to leave._

_-Flashback Ends-_

I kept on running in the back streets of New York, hoping to lose them. If I couldn't, then I guess I could always kill them, but... I knew what would happen if I do that.

If I were to kill someone, I would go on a killing spree. My left arm would act up and take over my mind and body. This only happened once in my life. I still remembered what it felt like; in the back of my mind, I knew what was going on, but I had no control over it.

I was almost out of energy. I had been running for hours, and I brought nothing to eat because I thought escaping was going to be easy. How was I supposed to know my human friend of three years, Chung, was going to betray me?

_Just like Alex..._

_Stupid, don't think about him._ I shook my head. I needed to get out of this.

Lights flashed. I blinked multiple times to adjust to it. It was a billboard sign flashing the words "Aisha Fuse free live performance at 8PM!"

I rolled my eyes. I didn't have time to go to some stupid air-head idol's concert. I was running for my life here.

I turned to go but then I thought of something great. If I did go to this concert, no one would find me there. I hadn't been to concert in years anyway. Who cares if I go now? I could always hide in the staff room if they ever found out I went to the concert.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

I felt like crying. The show was over, and I sat with my face down on the dresser in the staff room, feeling miserable. I was fired. Being fired from a job I liked was a first time for me, so I felt like well...crap.

I rubbed my silver bracelet on my left wrist. It had a large green gem embedded in the middle and, for some strange reason, it couldn't be taken off.

Believe me, I tried. I went through a rebellious stage too. Elsword told me that when he found me in the woods I had already had it on.

I sighed, rubbing the gem on the bracelet harder. _What was wrong with my songs anyway?_ I just couldn't see anything wrong with them. Maybe it's just that people's tastes in music are changing. I tried to reason with myself but somehow I knew I was missing something in my songs.

Something that every successful songwriter had.

I shook my head. I had to try harder to achieve my dream of becoming the best songwriter in the world.

I sang a song trying to cheer myself up. It was the one I always hum to myself. _Always_.

"I was so happy when you smiled.

Your smile broke through the clouds of grey,

Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep.

Waiting with patience for the spring,

When the flowers bloom renewed again.

Knowing there is more beyond the pain of today.

Although the scars of yesterday remain,

You can go on living as much as your heart believes.

You can't be born again,

Though you can change.

Let's stay together always."

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

Most definitely one of the weirdest songs I've ever heard. This blond chick was singing to HERSELF, after all. I hid in the closet waiting for everyone in there to leave. From the all sniffles I heard, she probably wanted to cry. _Please don't. I want to get out of here. Go cry somewhere else please._

I rolled my eyes when a coat hanger stabbed my side. I broke it in half and threw it behind me, and the girl moaned loudly before she left, closing the door. I quickly stepped out and gave a sigh of relief. The idiots must've stopped chasing me by now. I'm outta here.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

I finally noticed the clock on the wall. It was 11:00 pm.

"Oh, no!" I moaned. Now Elsword will complain about me coming home late. I never knew why he complained about that, but I always had to come home before midnight. Probably because there were a ton of gangs in New York.

I quickly shoved my stuff in my binder and left, closing the door on my way out of the building. I fumbled in my pocket for the keys to lock it. I saw a shadow fall beside me and rough hands grabbed me from behind.

"Mmff!" Was I being robbed? I didn't think I carried more than $100 though. I struggled, trying to break the grip around my mouth.

They spun me around so that I could see them. There were three of them, but only one was frightening. He held a huge cannon like it was nothing and was currently the one holding me in a tight grip.

"That one is actually pretty." The two men beside the cannon man used their eyes to rake over my body. I shivered and crossed my arms. "Can we play with her after you're done with her?" The question came from the person next to the cannon man.

The cannon man didn't answer him. Instead, he leaned closer to me until we were inches apart.

"Tell me," he said menacingly with his blue eyes boring holes into my green eyes. "Have you seen a guy with a white streak in his black hair? Or maybe a scar on his eye?"

"N-no!" I stammered. "I haven't seen anybody like that."

"Really?" He shoved me away from him but still held on to my arm. Then he turned to his friends. "She seems as if she is telling the truth. What do you think guys? Should we kill her?"

They all started to murmur.

"I think we should play with her," one said.

"Just kill her and get it over with," said another.

"Why don't we just leave her? All we need to do is threaten her to keep her mouth shut," the cannon guy suggested with evident boredom in his voice.

"But Chung!" the first one protested.

I had enough of this. Chung's grip on my arm had loosened because of the argument in the group. It was the perfect time to escape.

I kicked Chung in the shin, and he winced in pain, loosening his hold on me even more. Yanking my hand away, I ran past him and his friends as fast as I could. I may not be the best fighter, but I can say I was a pretty fast runner.

"What are you waiting for? Go catch her now! I'll go back to the headquarters to report to Alex first." I could hear Chung as he shouted orders to the other two.

After hearing that I ran faster than before, hoping I could outrun them. My home was only a few blocks away; I just had to make it.

I looked back and gasped. _Are they even human?_ They were only a few feet behind me now. What am I going to do? I couldn't fight at all, and the last time I tried to block a punch, I ended up in the hospital for weeks!

A large shadow passed over the full moon. _What was that?_ A bird? A breeze blew by and died. I felt my own resolve crumbling with the wind. I just lost my job and now I was going to die faster than the breeze.

"Huh?" I saw something run past me so fast, the wind turned violent, pushing me back toward the opposite direction. Startled, I stopped to catch my breath.

Footsteps neared me. I grimaced. I was now going to die. I stopped running, knowing it was futile.

"Kill me really fast, ok?" I rambled randomly, trying to calm myself but failing. Because I was going to die. I closed my eyes, not wanting to face the person who is going to kill me. "If you don't mind, that is."

I heard the footsteps stop beside me. I tensed. An awkward second passed.

"Hell no! I'm not going to kill you. Now would you freaking open your eyes?!" a deep voice growled.

Startled, my eyes flew open. And I took in the sight before me.

He wasn't one of the people who was in the group. A scar stretched from his forehead to across one of his eyes, and he had jet black hair with a streak of white in the middle. He wore all black. Black jeans, black combat boots, and strangely enough, a black glove on his left hand.

"Huh? Who are you?" Suddenly I remembered what Chung had said.

_Scar on face? Check. Black hair with white streak in middle? Check._ Sadly, I came out of the pot and into the fire. He was the person they were looking for! I mentally cursed to myself. _Why am I so unlucky?_

Normal people don't hunted down by a scary-looking gang, so he must be really dangerous.

"Come with me now." He grabbed my arm and yanked me forward. _What is with the grabbing today?_

We started to run. "I knocked those punks out, but who knows when they'll wake up."

"K-knocked t-them out?" I said haltingly. Is he a good guy then? I glanced behind me as I kept running. They were lying on the ground face-down, completely unconscious. "Oh." He really did knock them out. Quite quickly too.

I started to stare at my savior again. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were the color of gold but slightly slanted like a cat's. His skin was really tan, making me feel like I was pasty white, like snow.

He noticed me staring at him. "What? Is something wrong?" He looked self-conscious for a moment before returning to his stoic face.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I said. After thinking a moment I added, "Except probably the question, where are we going?"

"Huh?" That question startled him for a moment but then he replied, "I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping in a tree tonight."

I stopped running and yanked back my arm from him. "I actually have a home, you know!" I said, exasperated and breathless. We stood still and glared at each other.

"You can't go home now," he said slowly waiting for each of his words to sink in.

"Huh?" My eyes widened as I came to a scary conclusion from that comment. I shook my head so violently I almost got whiplash. "Sorry, I'm not one of those girls who just fall for looks and elope on the spot. I do owe you though." I frowned. I didn't like indebted to anyone.

"I didn't mean that," he said quietly. "The people who attacked you today are after me. I tried to keep them from seeing my face when I knocked them out, but I think they saw me anyway."

"And what does have to do with me?" I asked. "You mean I can't go home because of you?"

"Yeah," he said, "If they find out you know me, they'll come for you."

I started to get angry. "Mph. I don't care. They'll never find me anyway. I'm not even close to being famous now." I kicked a pebble on the ground. It was true. I was just fired from a job that could've made me famous.

We continued to argue about this problem until my throat hurt from talking.

"How about a compromise?" he asked after minutes of arguing.

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "Let's hear it."

"If, by chance, you don't get caught in one day, you can stay here. But if you do, you're going to leave with me. No questions asked. Got it?"

I mulled over it for a while, wondering what in the world he was thinking. Finally I sighed and stuck out my hand.

"I, Rena Lee, accept the deal."

* * *

**A/N: ****Yay, I finally figured out how to the the lines! Anyway, please review? Constructive criticism is very much welcomed. (I know this chapter was way too long. :( I tried my best to keep it short). Many thanks to my first ever reviewer RubyCrusade! Thanks so much. I love you!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 2**

**– Raven POV-**

I didn't trust her enough to tell her my real name, so I lied through my teeth while stretching out my hand to shake hers.

"I, Crow, also accept the agreement."

She blinked. "Your name is Crow?" she asked, dropping her hand before she even shook mine.

"Yeah," I lied smoothly. I was so good at it, I was practically a con man. My poker face helped too.

"Oh!" She hit her palm with her fist and grinned like there was no tomorrow.

I looked at her in alarm. _Had she already found out who I really was? I didn't even tell her my surname yet for Pete's sake!_

"I know how to pay you back now." She stretched out her arm again and shook my outstretched hand vigorously. "Why don't you come over to my place? It's better than sleeping in a tree right?" She looked at me and smiled.

Suddenly tons of images flashed through my brain. Those same green eyes looking at me while saying the words "I love you." The same long golden hair leaning against me, sleeping peacefully.

_Why does this person look so much like her? Like my fiancé?_

_Seris..._

"Crow?" She came closer to me and pinched my cheek to shake me from my hallucinating. "You still there?"

"Yeah," I said while stepping back to stop her from pinching me again. I had to snap out of it. This girl is nothing like my Seris. "I guess you could pay me back like that." The reason why I saved her was because she looked like Seris. I have to keep an eye on her.

To protect her in the place of protecting my Seris.

"Then let's go!" She grabbed my arm and started to lead me to her house.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

Crow was stunned. Even though he tried to hide it behind his ever-constant poker face, I could tell.

He took another look at my apartment and asked again. "This is all yours?"

"Yup!" I said trying to stop myself from giggling at his dumbstruck expression. "What's wrong with it?"

"What in the hell is this?" He threw up his hands. "I practically live in a tree and you get to have a whole eight-story apartment to yourself?"

"It's rented," I said modestly. I took out my keys and started to unlock the front door.

"Who in the hell would rent a whole apartment for one person?!" His face was so funny I wanted to take a picture of it and look at it when I felt sad. Instead, I resisted the urge and said, "Don't ask me. Ask Elsword." I rolled my eyes. Elsword had said a famous songwriter should have a big house. Since Elsword is paying the rent though, I didn't really care. "Besides I get visitors every now and then. Sometimes Elsword or Aisha sleeps over."

I finally unlocked the front door. "Come on in." I smiled and threw open the door.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

"What's with these dishes? What happened to the word meat?" I really didn't want to complain to the Seris-look-alike, but I couldn't live off of rabbit food.

"Sorry." She popped another strawberry in her mouth, chewed quickly, and swallowed it. "I'm a vegetarian."

"What the heck?!" I wanted to bang my head against the table in frustration. First, a group of idiots chase me around New York City. Then, I randomly save the person who looked like Seris, and she offered me a place to stay. Thinking that she actually lived on real food, I agreed. Afterwards, I find out that she lives off _rabbit food_. I must've done something really bad in my past life to deserve this.

Karma sucked.

"How did you even grow living off of this?" I stabbed at a piece of broccoli and showed it to her.

_How did her breasts grow that big with only vegetables as food? Forget rabbit food. Even rabbits can't live off of this!_

She blinked slowly and pointed to a shelf full of cans. "If you mean where I get protein, I usually get in the nuts I eat over there."

"This food is practically a grass field!" I pushed my food away from me and started to get up.

"The bath is downstairs," she mumbled loud enough for me to hear. I took one look at her sad face and sat right back down. Making girls cry made me feel like I'm the bad guy.

"I'm sorry. I was only joking. This food is delicious!" I shoved a piece of cauliflower in my mouth and smiled as wide as I could.

Which really isn't all that big.

My taste buds complained loudly. I had a feeling that I was going to vomit in any minute.

She immediately cheered up and definitely DID NOT notice my dying expression. "When you finish eating, the bath is downstairs on the fifth floor and your room is on the fourth floor." She looked at my worn out clothing with a measured expression. "And I guess you can borrow Elsword's clothes for today. I think they can fit you better than mine."

"Yeah." I tried to make my response short as possible_. Hurry and get out of here before I throw up, girl._

"Well, I'll be on the seventh floor if you need me." With that said she skipped up the huge spiral staircase and left me alone.

_Freaking rich person._

As soon as she left, I threw all the food left on the plate into the nearby trashcan. The trashcan looked expensive too. Now I feel even poorer. Sighing, I stood up and walked downstairs since I was currently on the sixth floor.

On the way there, I did some sightseeing. Everywhere I looked, I saw glass. Glass spiral staircase, glass floor, and, weirdly, glass walls. What the heck. When I first came in, I immediately had to check the walls. You couldn't see anything out of them and probably vice versa.

Reaching the end of the staircase, I opened the door to the bathroom took one look it and rolled my eyes. Great, it's another one of those perks rich people have. A floor completely dedicated to bathing. A bathtub like an indoor swimming pool, a variety of soap and shampoo on shelves, and best of all, steam from the hot water promising warm water. This is pretty much heaven for poor people like me.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

I hummed to myself quietly while riffling through Elsword's temporary closet. He had his own apartment and only used mine when he was being chased down by the annoying media.

_A T-shirt or a button down?_ I tried my best to decide between them. _Which one would fit him better? Probably the T-shirt._ I took it off the closet hanger and draped it over my arm.

_Now for the pants. Should they be jeans or sweatpants?_ I thought for a minute and shrugged. _Jeans it is._ I draped that over my arms too and turned to go.

As I crossed Elsword's room however, something caught my eye. It was a small square velvet box on his dresser. I crossed over and picked it up. Slowly, I opened the lid. I took one look at it and hastily snapped it shut again. Blinking back tears, I ran out of his room to my room upstairs, trying my best to forget what was in the box.

But I couldn't. A thin gold band with a sparkling diamond and the words "I Love You, Aisha" kept reappearing in my mind.

**_- Flashback Few Years Ago -_**

_"Hey, Rena." Elsword leaned against the doorway to talk to me. "I have something exciting to say."_

_"What is it?" I rolled my eyes and continued sewing the rip on my favorite shirt. Elsword thought everything new was exciting. Sometimes, I wondered if Elsword was really older than me by ten years._

_He grinned and ruffled my hair. I glared at him, and he smirked in response. "Well, I finally got myself a girlfriend today. How is that for an achievement, huh?"_

_My stomach plummeted. I had poked myself with a needle, drawing blood, but I couldn't feel the pain. I was too numb to care._

_"A-a girlfriend?" I said in shock. "You got a g-girlfriend?"_

_Elsword took my shock as complete surprise and rolled his eyes._

_"It's not that surprising, is it?" he asked with mock hurt in his voice._ _"Besides, she's really nice. Why don't you go meet her with me tomorrow?"_

_"S-sure." I swallowed my sudden emotions. _

_He ruffled my hair again and left me the room while I tried to control my mixed emotions._

_Mentally, I tried to reason with myself. Elsword was practically my brother. I should encourage him to be more outgoing._

_But somehow I felt empty._

_He was leaving me to go to his new girlfriend._

_I had never felt more alone in the world._

_**- Flashback Ends -**_

I ran past the bathroom before I remembered Crow needed clothes. I went back and knocked on the door.

"Crow?" I called rather quietly, trying my best to keep my voice from shaking. "Are you done? Your clothes are outside the door."

I didn't bother to listen to his answer and just ran up the stairs to the seventh floor where my room was. I needed some alone time to sort out my thoughts and feelings of everything that happened today.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV- ~**

Before I say my thanks through the door, she ran off. I narrowed my eyes. This wasn't like her. Her voice was shaky and quiet, not anything like the loud, lively voice I got used to in the past few hours. Something bad must have happened to her.

_Could it be...?_

I hurriedly got out of the bath, wrapped a towel around my waist, and opened the door to get my borrowed clothes.

I quickly put them on while snorting about the words on the T-shirt she left for me. _Come to the dark side, I have cookies._

After pulling on my left glove to hide my arm, I walked out of the bathroom, barefoot, with my tattered clothes in one hand and my shoes in the other.

Now where was her room again so that I can go confront her? I also couldn't remember my room number either.

_Agh... hell._

As I stood there stupidly trying to remember the floors for each of them, I suddenly remembered her saying she would be on the seventh floor if I needed her help.

Walking up two flights of stairs annoyed me. _If you were rich why couldn't you get an elevator? Rich people sure are weird, in ways more than one._

As I neared the seventh floor, I heard a soft piece of music being played on a piano. I closed my eyes, savoring the enchanting melody.

This was a piece of music I knew very well. It was called "_Trissette_," a song so sad it was nicknamed "the end of all ends." Seris used to play this piece for me before she... I shook my head. _No, I shouldn't think about that. It's not important right now._

Stopping by the open door, I peered in, thinking it was a radio or something playing the song. It was pretty hard to play, so most humans shouldn't be able play it unless they trained for years.

Instead of a radio, I saw her. The one and only love of my life, _Seris_. She was playing the piano in a white dress, looking every bit like an angel.

I dropped my clothes on the floor and rushed in, trying to find out if I was hallucinating. Grabbing her shoulders, I turned her around, hoping that this was real.

"Seris?" I breathed hopefully before realizing who it really was. It wasn't my Seris, but she did look a lot like her.

"Crow?" Rena stared back at me, confusion evident in her Seris-like green eyes.

I closed my eyes painfully. I should have known better than to hope.

Because Seris, _my Seris_, was already dead. I couldn't protect her even though I had promised.

* * *

**A/N: Love it? Like it? Or is it so bad you want to push me inside a volcano so that I will never update again? Please tell that in your reviews! (Edited 9/29/13)**

**To Mandy234619: COOKIES?! DID YOU JUST SAY COOKIES? Come back here! *runs around chasing you* Eh-hem, like I was saying, thanks for the review! My second review ever! It's not alot compared to stories like Eternal Soulmates which has like 900 reviews *sweatdrops* but hey it's a start!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 3 – **

**-Rena POV-**

Crow was acting weird. One minute, he barged in my room and turned me around with a half-crazed look on his face saying something about seraphs; the next minute, he was banging his head against the wall and calling himself stupid with every smash.

"Stupid." _Smash_. "Stupid." _Smash_. "Stupid." _Smash_. "Stupid." _Smash_. "Stupid." _Smash_. "Stupid." _Smash_.

He repeated it many times before I got over my initial shock and asked him to stop.

"Crow, if you don't stop you're going to give yourself brain damage," I said rather concernedly. I worried quite a bit about that. I mean, what if he got amnesia?

He didn't listen and continued to smash his head against my bedroom wall. At this point, I was rather annoyed and exasperated. I kneaded my forehead, trying to calm my headache. _First the engagement ring and now this?_ Sighing, I stood up from the piano seat and walked over to where he was, shoving my hand between the wall and his forehead to stop him from hurting himself any further.

"Crow, stop it!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him far away from the wall. Pulling him down on my bed, where he sat beside me, unable to look at me in the eye, I grabbed his head and turned him forcefully to look me in the eye.

"What's wrong, Crow?" I asked softly. I felt like I was talking to an animal that would run away in any moment. I really didn't have the right to comfort anyone right now though...

_Because of the stupid engagement ring._

He didn't answer me, but I knew what he was feeling at that very moment.

They say that the eyes are a window to the soul.

His eyes told me what he was feeling that very moment.

_Pure despair and sorrow._

My breath got caught in my throat as I tried to say something, anything. Nothing came out, but, somehow, the empty silence seemed more appropriate for such pain and sadness. I leaned against him and hugged him. I tried to put the feeling of comfort into that hug as best as I could while, at the same time, trying forget about my own worries. I think it got to him because, a few seconds later, he hugged me back. I buried my face and inhaled his comforting scent, a mix of cinnamon and sandalwood. Even though I only knew him for a few hours, he made me feel safe. It was like I knew him in the past or something. As silly as it sounded, it really did feel that way.

We stayed in that position for a long time.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

I sighed when she finally fell asleep. After another whiff of her unique scent, a mix of vanilla and citrus, I removed her arms from my chest and gently laid her down on her bed. After I pulled the blanket over her, I crossed the room and left, closing the door behind me.

This was pathetic. This just isn't like me. I knew Seris was dead but why did I keep hoping the opposite was true?

_I'm over her now. I have to get on with my life. She is dead and always will be dead._

I leaned against the door, massaging my temples. I was getting a headache from all this thinking. And, for some strange reason, my heartbeat was irregular. It was beating faster than usual. I don't think I have any health problems so...

_Why? Could it be...? No!_

I shook my head violently. Seris was my only love. I remembered the saying in Elrios, "If it's true love then you will never love again." That is why in Elrios, divorces were rare.

I was about to walk away when I remembered the reason why I was here in the first place. I face-palmed. I still don't know why she was upset or even where the heck my room was.

_Maybe..._ I looked at the door leading to her room. _I don't think she'll mind if I slept in her room._

_On the floor, of course._

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

I woke up to the sounds of my tamed sparrows pecking on the window, asking for food. I smiled. _Time to feed them before I go to school._

I threw back my covers and put my feet on the floor. Only... _Huh? When was the marble floor soft and squishy?_

I looked down to see what I stepped on since it obviously wasn't the floor.

"AHHH!" I screamed.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

"I'm so sorry Crow!" she said again. We were standing in her bedroom feeding her "tamed" sparrows that were perched on the window. I really didn't think they can be tamed with them being the annoying things they were.

Apparently, to my amusement, she had stepped on me when she woke up. Fortunately, she was very light. Unfortunately, she also screamed bloody murder into my ear.

Looking at her tragic expression now, I stifled a chuckle.

"It's fine." I rolled my eyes as I tried to shoo away a particular sparrow that was trying to eat all the birdseed.

She looked over my shoulder and saw what I was trying to do. She frowned and pointed her finger at the bird.

"Don't hog all the food, Freckle."

Just like that, the sparrow stopped hoarding all the birdseed. Heck, it even started to nudge the seeds to the others.

"There!" She dusted off her hands. We finished feeding them and started to head downstairs for breakfast.

As we walked down the stairs she suddenly turned to me and asked a question I really wanted to avoid.

"Crow, now that I think about it, why did you barge in my room anyway? I know why you stayed - cause you couldn't find your room - but what made you come into my room in the first place?"

I really didn't want her to know that I was worried about her or tell her about Seris. So I lied to her.

Again.

I was going to turn into a conman at this rate.

"I came to ask where my room is," I said, trying to make my lie sound true. I am pretty much a con artist after all.

She narrowed her eyes, detecting the loophole in my sentence. "It's sort of surprising that you can't remember yours but somehow remembered mine?"

"Hmm," I replied.

She didn't say anything else. We reached the kitchen in silence.

"So..." I said trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "What's for breakfast?"

She didn't answer my question but pointed at the chairs beside the granite tabletop and coldly said one word, "Sit." If it weren't for her freezing, ice cold tone I would've felt like I was being treated like a dog. Instead, I sat in the chair quickly, hoping that I wouldn't get killed.

_Man, she is scary when she's mad._

She walked to the fridge and opened it. After taking out a carton of milk, she closed it. Then, she got two bowls off the shelf and carried them to the table where I sat.

"We're eating cereal," she said pushing a bag of Fruit Loops at me.

I winced. I needed protein since last night. Looks like I won't be getting any today. I sighed. My life sucked.

We ate in silence with the occasional sounds of chewing. Suddenly, a weird song started to play out of nowhere, startling me and making me drop my spoon.

"It's not gonna ever end,  
Cause you're my new best friend.  
Baby, I can touch the sky  
And wait for a while.  
Brand New Breeze  
It carries-"

Rena pulled out her cellphone from her pocket and answered it.

"Hello?" She blinked and a beaming smile spread across her face when she heard the voice on the other side.

"Even!" Rena chirped. "Why didn't you call last night?"

I felt annoyed for some strange reason. _Who was this Even person? Is Even a guy? More importantly, who is Even to her?_

I tried to lean in closer to hear the conversation, but Rena shot me a look of disgust and moved farther away. _Ugh, why did she have to sit across from me?_

"Really?! What did you invent this time?" Rena paused for a moment probably listening to that bastard Even. I can't wait to get my hands on him. _Hmm... How should I kill him?_

"Oh, it sounds great! I-" She stopped talking as soon as she saw the clock on the kitchen wall. It was a quarter to eight.

Her eyes widened and she quickly said, "Hey, Even, can you tell me about that in school? I think I might be late if I talk and run. See you later."

Rena ended the call on her cellphone and turned to me with a smile.

"I'm going to change now or I'll be late for school." She ran up the stairs and left me alone.

I was confused. _Did she forgive me already? Either that or she has mood-swings. I really hope it's not the latter._

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

"Shoes, shoes, where are my shoes?!" I ran around my room, searching for my favorite sneakers.

I had found my green blouse in the dryer, my khaki capris in the closet, and now I was running around like a madwoman trying to find a pair of shoes. It certainly didn't help that I never cleaned my room.

"Found them!" They were hiding under my grand piano. Putting them on hurriedly, I paused a moment in front of my vanity mirror to tie my hair in two loose pigtails.

"Done!" Grabbing my book bag, I pulled open my bedroom door and ran down the stairs.

"Crow!" I called. "I'm going to school now! Do whatever you want until I come back!"

I found him sitting on the couches on the first floor living room. He looked up at me and causally said, "I'm coming too."

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

"No." Well, that was fast reply.

I sighed inwardly. I expected that answer.

Staring her down, I simply said three words, "I have to."

I had to protect her from being taken into that bastard Alex's hands. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to see who this Even guy was at the same time.

As if knowing that she lost this argument, she looked away. Pouting slightly because she lost, she stiffly nodded. "Fine."

Inwardly, I smirked as I proceeded to follow her out of her apartment.

Waving to the passing taxis, she asked me, "So, should I say you're a foreign exchange student who wants to know how American schools work?"

When I glared at her, she shrugged.

"Couldn't think if anything else," she explained.

I snorted. _Not every bright is she? Just like Seris..._

I grimaced. As much as I try to bury them, memories of my time with Seris were coming back. _And it was all because of her... Rena._

I looked at Rena who finally caught a taxi.

"Crow!" She waved me over and slide inside the car. "C'mon, get a move on!"

Right, I should get a move on. _Move on after Seris._

Walking over to the taxi, I climbed in after her, still brooding over my thoughts about Seris.

She must've noticed because she smiled and slipped her hand in mine.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

_OMG! Did I really just do that?!_

I turned my face away, hoping that he didn't notice. No such luck.

I could hear his throaty chuckle from behind me. I shot him a look that clearly said, "Shut up or you'll die." He stopped but still had that cocky smirk on his face. I fumed. _Cocky person, isn't he?_

Luckily the taxi stopped then, preventing me from murdering him. After paying the driver, I dragged Crow out of the taxi.

"What's the hurry for?" he asked.

"I want you to meet Even!" I grinned. I really hope Even goes easy on him. Even was really hard to impress.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

I twitched at the sound of that horrible name. Even. _Who would name their poor kid that? And why does my name have to rhyme with it?_

We arrived at the gates of Rena's school a few minutes later with her turning her head 360 degrees looking for her "friend."

"Even, where are you?" she yelled while avoiding crowds of students going through the gates.

"Over here, baka." A voice called out from behind me.

I turned around expecting a guy, but, instead, I saw silver-haired girl with her hair in tight buns.

"Even!" Rena ran past me and glomped her.

Wait a minute... Even wasn't a guy. Even was a _girl_.

* * *

**A/N: ****Sorry it was more of a filler chapter. Even I want to get to the action scenes as soon as possible but I can't do that until I introduce most of the characters. After two more chapters, I think thats when the action will start. I can't wait... Problem is that I type slow... Anyway I got so many reviews for the 3rd chapter I almost cried! I'm so happy! BTW the song is called "Brand New Breeze" by Kanon. (Edited 9/30/13)**

**To RubyCrusade:**** OMG you reviewed again! Thanks so much! Though I say Elsword would make a great dad (if he was my dad I would definately think so). **

**To Tsurara-Oikawa Chan:**** Nice name. And no the title was not intentionally based on the anime (lol I looked it up... Not exactly my type of anime but oh well). Crumpets please? *joins you for tea***

**To xSnowflakesx:**** You're the second person who talked about Elsword age. If I had a dad like Elsword it would be epic. Yeah it's my first story published. As for Raven and Crow I got that from my guild master who is a Raven and is called JetBlackCrow. And the classes... OMG I forgot about that! I'll put it up the next chapter. **

**To Mandy234619:**** OMG you reviewed again! Hmph you throw Chung at me? Well... *rolls up sleeves and takes out a pokeball* YAY I CAUGHT A PIKACHUNG! Now as for those cookies... MHAHAHA**

**To The Cynical Asian:**** Oh thanks for catching that. Ara don't worry I'll put you in my story (somehow...). I know I need some details on emotions but... I'm kinda like Eve. I like to read them not write them... sigh**


	5. Chapter 4

**The Charatcer Classes (Most of them are in their 1****st**** Job Class. You'll see why later on)**

**Elsword- Rune Slayer**

**Aisha- Void Princess**

**Rena- Combat Ranger**

**Raven- Over Taker**

**Eve- Code Architecture**

**Chung- Shooting Guardian**

**Ara- Little Hsien**

* * *

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 4 –**

**Raven POV**

My mind completely blanked out. _So I had been worried over nothing?! Wait a minute... Why was I worried anyway? It's not as if Rena was my girlfriend or anything._

I shook my head quickly. _Forget that for now, I have more important matters to tend to right now._

I felt a bead of nervous sweat drip down my temple as I stared at the scene before me. Even was trying to hit Rena with a huge flyswatter produced out of nowhere for hugging her. Rena dodged most of the attacks by doing flips but still got hit on the head multiple times.

As much as I wanted to laugh, I stopped myself by clearing my throat.

"Eh-hem, Rena, didn't you want to introduce me to your friend?" I asked.

She looked at me sheepishly.

"Sorry, Crow. I got caught up with hugging her. I haven't seen her for a week, you know. Anyway..." She grabbed Even's hand and dragged her until she stood right in front of me.

"Even this is Crow. Crow will be joining in class us for today." Rena pointed a finger at me. "And Crow this is Even-" Rena never got to finish her sentence because Even smacked her head with the flyswatter again.

Turning around to face Rena, Even coolly said, "Baka, I can introduce myself. Besides, you introduced me as Even, you moron. What did I say about calling me that in front of someone?"

"It's taboo," Rena said, rolling her eyes while rubbing her head.

"Good, the idiot remembers." Even turned to me and said, "My name is Evelyn Code. You may call me Eve for sort."

"Oh." _Should I ask her why Rena calls her Even? No, judging from the way Eve was looking at me as if daring me to ask, it's better not to know._

Instead of asking that question, I asked another, "What is that?" I pointed at the huge flyswatter.

"Oh this?" Eve lifted the huge flyswatter to near my face and explained emotionlessly, "Invention #001, Moron Swatter. As the name suggests, it's a flyswatter for morons. Size is adjustable." With that, she shortened it until it was about the size of her palm. Tucking it into her pocket, she walked off to class, not even bothering to wait for us.

I looked over to Rena, at loss for words. Rena looked right back at me.

"Nice friend, huh?" I finally managed to say.

She grinned knowingly. "At least she didn't smack you with her Moron Swatter."

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

The rest of the day passed by rather smoothly. Before I knew it, the bell rang to end the school hours. Everyone packed their bags and left. Only Even, Crow, and I were left in the classroom.

"Yay, school is over!" I cheered. Packing my stuff into my book bag, I looked over at Even and asked, "Hey, Even, do you want to hang out together?"

"No. I have better things to do today, Baka." she replied. She lifted her bag over her shoulder and left the classroom.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Even was always like that. But I know that Even was a very kind person, deep down.

Deep, deep, deep, down.

Apparently, Crow didn't see it. Not that I can blame him.

"How did you even become friends with Eve? You two are like polar opposites."

I grinned when I heard that. Everybody who saw us together said the same thing.

"Come on." I grabbed my book bag and walked out of the classroom. "I'll tell you on the way home."

* * *

**~ - Eve POV - ~**

I walked quickly up the stairs to the school rooftop. Opening the door, I let my eyes wander until I saw him at the edge of the roof, looking far into the distance.

Chung Seiker.

He must've felt my presence because he turned around and said, "You're late."

I inwardly huffed in exasperation but kept my face blank. "Like you need to do anything afterwards."

"True, but today I have a job for you," he said, coming closer to me until we were face-to-face.

"What?" I demanded to know.

"This person," he said giving me a picture, "capture him."

My eyes widened a fraction of an inch when I saw the picture. It was the picture of the foreign student. The one Rena introduced me to, Crow.

"Tell me more about him," I commanded.

"Interested?" Chung chuckled darkly. "I might get jealous you know."

"Just tell me," I said. _Who was this person in the picture really?_

"This guy," Chung drawled and pointed at the picture, "is a rebel against the Royals. His name is Raven Mercenary. Apparently, he stole Alex's girlfriend away and killed her. Now Alex wants him captured for revenge and to collect the bounty on his head."

On the outside, I maintained my pokerface, but, inwardly, I was panicking _Goosebumps ran down my skin._ _Rena was hanging out with a guy like this? That dense fool!_

"I see." _I better get her away from him before she gets hurt._

Turning around, I was about to leave before Chung stopped me.

"Wait." He shoved another picture at me. "I want you to bring this girl to me."

This time my blank face completely broke down. Horror flashed across my face.

_No! This can't be! _I held the picture in my trembling hand.

The girl in the picture was someone I knew and loved dearly.

The girl in the picture was my best friend, Rena.

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

Walking back on the way to my apartment, I told Crow of how Even and I first met.

**_- Flashback 5 Years Ago –_**

_Around the time I was in 5th grade, she came. _

_"Class, we are getting a new transfer student from Japan," Miss Ariel announced. _

_My classmates got excited and fired many questions. _

_"Is it a boy?"_

_"Is it a girl?"_

_Miss Ariel shushed them and motioned for the new student to come in. _

_When I first saw Even, I thought she was a mean person. Her dandelion-yellow eyes were hard and cold. Her face and voice when she introduced her herself was emotionless and flat. _

_"I'm Evelyn Code." She introduced herself very plainly, not even saying take care of me or anything else._

_"Any questions?" Miss Ariel asked the class._

_One student had bravely raised his hand. "What's your favorite subject?"_

_"Nanotechnology," she replied coldly. _

_Since I was only in 5th grade I had wondered if it was something to eat. After I voiced it out, she replied, "No, baka."_

_The class didn't say anything after that. They were probably scared off by her cold aura and short answers. After a few days, they didn't even bother talking to her anymore._

_I really didn't talk to her much, and she didn't either. Few years passed before something happened._

_But in one day... All of that changed. _

_That day, I was crying in the park. Elsword told me about his new girlfriend, and I went outside to vent my feelings._

_Once I got to the park, I had seen Even there and ignored her. With my tears blurring my eyes, I didn't noticed her coming closer to me until she stood in front of me._

_"Crying makes you 30% uglier, Baka," she said._

_I twitched. Was she trying to make me feel better or worse?_

_"Please smile." _

_What? Did she really just say that? I looked at her in confusion. __When was she so warm-hearted?_

_"When you smile, it somehow makes me feel lighter. So please smile for me." I couldn't see her face because she hid it behind her bangs, but I could tell that her words were sincere._

_Drying my tears, I smiled. It was a bright and cheerful one. _

_"Let's be friends," I had said._

_When she nodded, I immediately glomped her. She hit me with her Moron Swatter in defense._

_It was the beginning of our new friendship._

**_- Flashback Ends-_**

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

By the time Rena finished telling the story, we were already in her apartment, sipping tea.

_What a weird friendship. _Before I could tell her that though her cellphone rang.

"It's not gonna ever end,  
Cause you're my new best-"

"Hello?" she answered. Then she grinned, "Hey, Even!"

She paused to listen. "Today?" Rena looked at me before answering, "Don't worry, I'll be there!"

Ending the call, she shot me an apologetic look.

"Crow, Even said she wants me to come over to her house for a sleepover."

"So?" I didn't see what that look was for.

"You can't come."

_What?! No way! I'm definitely coming to protect her._

"I'm coming."

"No." Her voice sounded like it wouldn't budge.

"Fine." I gave up. Eve looked like she could take care of herself and Rena.

But still, something didn't feel right. My heart felt anxious.

She smiled, packed her stuff, and gave me a hug before leaving. "I'll be back tomorrow morning bright and early, Crow!"

My frantic beating heart calmed down a bit after hearing that. _So why do I feel like something bad will happen?_

* * *

**A/N: ****Umm... guys are my chapters too long? I've gotten some complaints about it... Anyway onward to the reviews! *faints from seeing the reviews in double digits* OMG! You guys are the best! I try to update every two days so don't be impatient ok? BTW the lyrics are from "Brand New Breeze" by Kanon (again)(Edited 9/30/13)**

**To xXOmegaWolfXx:**** Thanks for saying that. I'm glad people like this story even though it's my first time writing one.**

**To Tsurara-Oikawa Chan:**** Thanks! Earl Grey is my favorite... What's yours? I also watched Nura too and it's pretty good. Is your name based off of Tsurara?**

**To xSnowflakesx:**** Yeah it was RC. Thanks for reviewing and letting me take my own sweet time updating.**

**To sOdAPopgrl133:**** Don't worry I'm sure yours are pretty good too. There will be more Cheve moments from now on so ... Keep reading! As for Chung being the bad guy... He was just there... So I used him.**

**To The Cynical Asian:**** Ohhh... thanks for pointing it out. You don't need to worry too much about my hurt feelings... You're not my beta-reader for nothing... And yeah Even is a nickname.**

**To Mandy234619:**** OMG I just read your story... The main character is not you right? RIGHT? If you even think about killing yourself I'm going to stop updating.**

**To xxtimexx:**** Thanks so much for reviewing! Every review fills me with happiness!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Guys if you have any time please do answer my poll question on my profile (it's for my next story)**

* * *

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 5 –**

**Rena POV**

Walking to Even's house was going to take a lot time, so I took the taxi. While waiting for a taxi, I recalled how weird Even sounded.

**_- Flashback Few Moments Ago –_**

_"Hello?" I answered. _

_"Baka, it's me," Even replied._

_I grinned when I heard her voice._

_"Hey, Even!" Did she want to hang out now?_

_"Listen, Baka, can you come over to my house today?" Her voice sounded emotionless as usual, but I detected a slight note of panic. My eyes widened. Something must've happened to Even. _

_I asked, "Today?" _

_"Yes, right now." The panic in her voice sounded like it was rising. _

_Looking at Crow apologetically, I answered, "Don't worry I'll be there!" Please be ok, Even. I'll be there as soon as I can._

_Because, after all, I am your best friend._

**_- Flashback Ends –_**

Finally catching a taxi driver's attention, I told the driver Even's address and asked him to hurry up. When the taxi stopped, I quickly paid the driver, grabbed my stuff, and ran toward Even's mansion.

Even's parents owned some kind of company and were never at home due to work. I never even saw them before, and I was sure Even missed them too. I liked to think that was why she became so emotionless.

Pressing the doorbell, I stood outside waiting for the mansion's gates to open. When they finally opened, I ran in the mansion as fast as I could, trying to find Even.

"Even?" I called. Tense, I looked around. _Where is Even?_ The inside of the mansion looked deserted. Not even the servants were here.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"She is not here, but I am," a voice said from behind me.

Gasping, I spun around only to freeze when I saw him. He was the leader of the people who were chasing me. The cannon guy, Chung.

His cocky grin widened farther when he saw my surprise and fear. "Missed me?"

Frozen in fear, I couldn't move. Suddenly, I felt something smash against my stomach, and I saw stars. Bending down, I gasped in pain. Black spots danced in my vision.

"Don't worry. We won't kill you. Our boss took a liking to you after all," Chung said, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I tried my best to resist by kicking Chung, but he merely shrugged and shoved something under my nose.

I struggled holding my breath until I felt like my head was going to explode. I breathed. After taking one breath of the chemicals in it, my head spun as the world turned black.

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

Honestly, this feeling of extreme anxiety should be against the law. It was morning, and she still wasn't back yet. I was pacing back and forth across the carpet floor, with my brain trying to use its stupid logic to calm me down.

_'She's fine. Eve is with her,'_ My brain tried to reason with me.

_Then what's this sinking feeling in my chest? It feels as if I'm going to lose something... Something important._

_Someone important._

_Namely, Rena._

I sighed. _I'm just overreacting._ Rena was just someone I met and grown an embarrassing attachment to.

_Just a few more hours and the deal will be over. And I will leave her._

At that thought, my heart clenched painfully. I didn't want to leave her. Somehow, she had managed to fill the void in my heart that Seris left. But I had to leave her.

I couldn't pull her farther into my world, my darkness.

Going over to the window, I peered out, hoping to see her figure walking toward the apartment.

Suddenly, I stiffened. It was only a slight change in the atmosphere, but I noticed it. Someone was in the same room with me, and it definitely wasn't Rena.

Turning around, I said in a low threatening voice, "Come out now! Hiding won't do you any good."

"Cocky, aren't you?" an emotionless voice said. "Fine. Let's see if you can take this."

A robotic figure stepped from the corner and darted towards me. Before I could react, it grabbed my shirt and slammed me against the wall.

Wincing a bit, I glared at it.

It was a robot that looked like a human. It sported a lean metallic white body with a black helmet covering its face. On its side hung a long silver sword. Probably a Nasod.

Shoving it aside, I pulled my left glove off, unsealing my own Nasod arm and getting ready for battle.

The Nasod also stepped back and drew its sword.

I was about to attack it when the same emotionless voice commanded, "Oberon, do not kill him. We only need to capture, not kill."

I narrowed my eyes. I had heard that emotionless voice somewhere before...

"As you wish, My Queen," Oberon replied.

I had enough of this. Channeling my rage into energy, I fired explosive missiles from my arm at Oberon. He dodged them easily by zigzagging across the floor and swiftly darted up to me. Drawing out his sword, he dealt out multiple slashes, aiming at my limbs so that he won't kill me. Using my Nasod arm, I blocked them fairly well, until I saw someone familiar walk out of the corner.

_No... It can't be her._

Distracted, I missed one of Oberon's slashes and it vertically sliced open and down one of my legs.

"Damn," I muttered as blood gushed out. Tearing a piece off the shirt Rena leant me, I quickly bent down and used it to bandage my leg. Shifting my weight to the other leg, I stood up glared at the one who caused all this.

Rena's so called best friend, Eve.

"Traitor!" I snarled. "Where is Rena? What have you done to her?"

She ignored my outburst. Instead, she talked to her Nasod servant, "Oberon, stop. I'll deal with him myself." Oberon bowed then stood off to the side.

Turning to me, she fixed a look of pure malice at me. "We meet again, Crow," she paused and then continued, "or should I say, Raven Mercenary?"

* * *

**~ - Eve POV - ~**

I looked at him in disgust. His surprise in being found out disappointed me. Who did he think was trying to fool? I was the Queen of Nasods, one of the mighty Royals. Yet, he thought he could fool me. Even before Chung had told me anything, I had my own suspicions about him.

"What did you do to Rena?" he snarled again.

My heart constricted painfully at her name, but I kept my face blank. An emotion kept weighing my chest down. _Was it guilt? No! I could not and should not be feeling that! Family comes before friends after all... Then why..._

_Why does it hurt so much?_

I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice Raven coming closer to me until it was too late.

He grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the wall.

"Tell me everything!" he demanded.

_Fool…_ Yes, he was a fool to think that I would tell him anything.

Using all the strength in my body, I slapped him across the face. Using that as a distraction, I jabbed him in the stomach and shoved him off of me.

"I will tell you nothing," I said coldly. "It is your own fault that things came to this."

His eyes widened. I knew he knew what I was talking about.

"She was innocent," I continued even though my heart felt like it was being torn to pieces. "She was my best friend. But you... You tainted her by giving her a taste of our dark and soulless world. You are the reason why I had to betray her. My only friend..." Something wet fell from my eye. I touched it. It looked like water.

_Could it be...? Tears?_ I tasted it. _Salty._

I was beyond horrified. I was a Nasod, I could not cry or have any emotions for that matter.

Turning away, I just let the tears fall. Somehow, it dulled the aching hole in my painful heart.

_I will never forgive him for doing this._ _Never._

"Oberon, use Space Wrench to knock him out. Tie him up afterwards so he can't escape," I ordered.

"As you wish, My Queen," he replied.

Casting one more look at Raven, I cloaked myself in invisibility and tried to calm myself down. As the Queen of Nasods, I should not let anyone see me like this.

Taking out my cellphone, I dialed Chung's number.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Don't play around, Chung. I captured Raven. Where should we meet up?"

"The four corners at midnight. Don't be late."

* * *

**A/N: ****I don't think I'm good at action scenes… Just look at this chapter for example… It didn't even get ****_me_**** excited (and I'm the ****_author_****). Anyway, I'll try to improve on that…By reading Percy Jackson over and over! XD The reasons for my late chapter are because 1) I'm revising my story… you might also want to reread the first few chapters. 2) I got a root canal… QAQ My face still looks like I got punched in the cheek…**

**To Tsurara-Oikawa Chan:**** I watched it a LONG time ago (the first season anyway). The second season wasn't as good as the first in my opinion because they focus more on that creepy lady (forgot what her name was) but I still watched it. You think they will create better third season? Anyway thanks for reviewing!**

**To The Cynical Asian:**** Thanks for checking it for me! Finally a chapter without grammar errors *cries tears of joy* Also Eve says that Moron Swatters aren't out yet in America…. Oh by the way, when you do you update your stories? Is it weekly?**

**To Mandy234619:**** Good *while she is distracted by my question I run around her, grab the cookies, and runs away* MHAHA … cough cough Thanks for reviewing!**

**To TsukixnoEvernight:**** *reads your review and fainted from joy* OMG! A famous writer like you is reviewing a beginner's story! This can't be true *pinches herself* YES I'M AWAKE! No, RC isn't my beta-reader but she did write the first review. Oh I'm digressing aren't I? Anyway, MANY THANKS FOR REVIEWING AND YOUR KIND WORDS!**

**To RubyCrusade/RubyCrucifix:**** Yeah, I'm still wondering how my weird story got so many people's attention including yours. You're a famous author right? I have been reading a lot of Elsword fanfics and they almost always mention you in their responses. OMG! I'm talking to a famous author right now! Where are my manners? Eh-hem, thank you favoriting, following, and reviewing (so many times)! By the way did you change your name?**

**To xSnowflakesx:**** Thanks for pointing out the typo… *feels so ashamed* As for Eve betraying Rena… You read this chapter already right? …. I'm not saying it here just in case you read this first… Thanks for reviewing!**

**To sOdAPopgrl133: ****Don't worry about not reviewing just one chapter… I'm just happy anyone would want to review ^^ Thanks for reassuring me that you would wait… I was worried that my readers were going to hate me. Everything is going to be revealed soon so I won't answer your spoiler questions… They will be answered soon! No worries…**

**To Icebella:**** Don't worry I'm better now… At least I can actually chew now. Thanks for your concern and review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Additional Classes:**

**Elesis:**** Pyro Knight**

* * *

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 6**

**- Elsword POV –**

"I need to go back," I said again for the millionth time.

"You know you can't until this stupid rebellion is over, my dear, stupid brother," my _dear_ sister, Elesis replied. We just finished discussing battle plans inside Hoffman's house, which I didn't think we needed. After all, you just need to charge in and win. "I've been saying that for days! How many times do I have to repeat that before it reaches your brain?"

I gritted my teeth. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been desperate enough to come to Elrios to find her years ago. Just so I wouldn't be in this kind of situation right now.

"Then again, I'm not even sure if you have a brain..." she continued to rant about my stupidity, ignoring my death glares. If looks could kill, she would be six feet under the ground by now.

As soon as she took a breath, I quickly jumped in and asked, "Sis, when is Aisha coming to help again?"

"Aisha, hmm... She told me to be at the Four Corner's portal." She shot me a look that said "you're not off the hook yet" and continued. "Sometime around midnight today, I think."

"Great." I missed her. Even though I would never admit that to her face.

"Elsword, you're drooling." Elesis raised an eyebrow. "You're not thinking of anything immoral, right?"

"O-of course not!" I said indignantly. _Who would be thinking any immoral thoughts about that childish little girl?_

"S-u-r-e you didn't..." Elesis teased, her normally serious crimson eyes held a spark of amusement. Before I could deny it, she rolled her eyes at me and left the room, closing the door behind her.

I sighed. The rebellion was doing pretty well considering that the people in it weren't even trained soldiers. But I heard from Hoffman that this was the quiet before the storm. He said that the strongest of the Royals were too busy chasing somebody down on Earth.

At any rate, if we managed to defeat most of the Royals before the others come back, we would win for sure.

_Then I could go home again..._

_Home on Earth... How long has it been? A week? Maybe two?_ I missed its peacefulness and its normalcy. Heck, I even missed my modeling job! But most of all... I missed my adopted daughter, Rena.

I grimaced as the scene from last time we talked to each other flashed through my mind.

**_- Flashback A Week Ago –_**

_I remembered the first thing she asked was, "Where have you been?"_

_I called her to meet up in our favorite park as soon as I came back from Elrios. Now, I regretted doing that, since I couldn't come up with a good excuse._

_She sat beside the water fountain with me standing in front of her. Her eyes were dark with anger. Knowing that she would get madder the longer I didn't say anything, I said the first thing that popped in my mind. _

_"I was with Aisha."_

_I was met with complete silence, so quiet that the crickets were audible above the din of a New York night._

_Apparently, that was not the right answer._

_Her face twisted into a horrible scowl and her eyes started to fill with tears. _

_"So this whole time, you were with Aisha?!" She stood up so that we were face to face. "This whole time you didn't text or call, I thought something horrible happened. I thought you were kidnapped! Or even murdered! But this whole freaking time you were with Aisha?!"_

_"Listen to me for a minute, Rena!" I said. I felt guilty for not contacting her sooner, but where in Elrios could I find a phone line?_

_Exactly, nowhere._

_"What are you going to say next? I won't believe your excuses anymore, Elsword!" Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she sidestepped me and ran away._

**_- Flashback Ends –_**

Afterwards, I had tried to talk to her, but she refused to answer any of my calls or text messages.

I let out another sigh. _It's not my fault that the people in Elrios still haven't invented the cellphone yet._

Standing up, I shoved those thoughts to the back of my head. _I'll think about Rena when I go back home. Right now, I have to pick Aisha up with Elesis or she might kill me._

* * *

**~ - Eve POV - ~**

"Oberon, dump him in the back of the plane and tell me when he wakes up," I commanded.

He obeyed my orders and stood in the back, preventing Raven from escaping.

I looked at my watch. It was 4:23. Sitting in my private jet plane, I wondered if Chung was treating Rena well. He was known to be... Ruthless.

I silently swore that if I saw a single scratch on Rena when I got there, there would be some bloodshed tonight.

Then again, it was my fault that she was in the hands of Chung. At that thought, my heart involuntarily squeezed tightly. Gasping at the sudden emotions that flooded me, I hugged my knees to my chest, hoping for some comfort. This pain was almost unbearable, but I couldn't fix it since it wasn't an external pain. It was mental and internal pain.

And it was hard to ignore.

_If only I hadn't tricked her into meeting Chung. If only I had never been friends with her... Would I still be feeling this way? These feelings..._

_Is this what humans call regret?_

* * *

**~ - Chung POV - ~**

Impatiently, I looked at my watch and swore loudly. It was 11:44.

_Where in the seven hells is she? She's never late without a reason._ Slightly worried, I began to pace around the portal.

My men gathered around me and tried to calm me down.

"Prince Chung, you don't need to worry about Queen Evelyn. She can take care of herself."

"Who says I'm worried about her!" I snapped. "I'm worried about the target!"

My men looked at each other knowingly and nodded.

"Well, we will leave you alone to your worries, Prince Chung." They bowed and left.

_Tch. They think they know everything about me, don't they? Nosy people sure are annoying._

A sudden thought occurred to me and I stopped pacing. While I wait, I should check on the person who caught the Boss's interest, Rena Lee.

Just as I was about to do that, I heard a plane land somewhere close. _So she's here now._

Briefly, I wondered if I should go down to meet her. Shooting that idea down, I just stood there waiting for her to come to me. My patience was rewarded moments later.

"Chung," she greeted me. Even in the dim light, I could tell that she was tired. Her normal hairstyle was messy and her stiff-as-a-board posture was almost completely gone. Mentally, I slapped myself.

_Why am I paying so much attention to her?_

"Eve," I answered flatly, nodding my head once to greet her. "Where is the target?"

She waved her hand to the figure behind her. "Oberon, give him to Chung."

Then she immediately turned to me and demanded, "Where is she?!"

"Where is who?" I asked, playing dumb. I liked an angry Eve better than an emotionless Eve.

Her eyes narrowed. "Chung Seiker of Hamel, if you do not tell me this very instant where she is, I will personally stop supplying your troops with weapons!"

Hmm... She was serious. Was that girl that important to her?

"Fine. Cabin 1-3," I said indifferently.

She ran off, not even bothering to wait for her servant, Oberon.

I frowned slightly.

_That Rena girl might be a lot of trouble in the future, if she can make the emotionless Queen of Nasods act like this._

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

I stirred and slowly opened my eyes. Without moving my head, I looked around the dark room. _Where am I? Why am I here? What happened?_

Suddenly, my drugged brain remembered the events that happened. Even's house. Chung. The kidnapping. I jolted up quickly.

"Ouch!" I cried out in pain because my body was stiff from not moving. I tried to move my arms and legs but couldn't. My hands were tied with a coarse rope. So were my legs.

_What happened to Even? Was she also hurt because of me? Where-_

"Baka, you're finally up," a familiar voice interrupted my panicked thoughts.

Immediately, my head snapped in that direction. She was standing in the corner, and I couldn't be any happier seeing that she was safe.

"Even?" I whispered. A smile spread across my face. "You're safe!" I wanted to run over and hug her, but the ropes stopped me.

"Of course, Baka." She walked over to me and asked with rare concern in her eyes, "You alright, Baka?"

"I-I'm fine!" I was so surprised by her show of concern that I didn't notice she wasn't tied up like me until she sat down beside me.

"Hey," I complained. "How come you aren't all tied up?"

She immediately stiffened and stood back up, with her back against me.

"You okay, Even?" I asked, noticing her discomfort. She was acting really weird. If I didn't know any better, I would think she was nervous.

Silence. _Why wasn't she replying?_

"Rena," she finally said, breaking the silence.

My attention was caught immediately. Even NEVER called me by my name unless the situation was life-threatening.

"We aren't friends anymore."

I snorted. How many times has she told me that? Too many times for me to even get mad at her whenever she says that.

"Even, I-" I tried to tell her to stop joking, but she cut me off.

"Rena, we can't be friends anymore," she said, turning to look at me in the eyes. She was dead serious. "We are now enemies."

* * *

**~ - Aisha POV - ~**

_Where is that Elbaka?_ I mentally screamed curses at him. The portal was going to close at this rate.

I tapped my foot impatiently. It was already 11:50! At this rate I was going to miss the portal. I sighed. _If only the barrier in the portals weren't broken from the inside._

Suddenly I heard hushed whispers near me. I shifted my eyes around to find the source of those whispers. _There!_ Teleporting myself closer, I began to listen in on the conversation beside a nearby bush.

"Queen Evelyn sure is strong. She beat that rebel in one move," one voice said.

"Of course. She is not a Royal for nothing," the second voice said.

_Crap. The Royals were here?_ And, judging by the looks of it, they were going to go through the same portal I'm going through.

Just as I was about to storm over to them and torture information out of them, they said something that caught my interest.

"Hey, hey, did you see that human girl who caught the Boss's interest?" the second voice asked.

_Human?_ I silently scoffed. _What would the Royals want with an ignorant human girl?_

"Do you think I'm blind? Of course I saw her. Quite pretty in my opinion. Now, what was her name again?" the first voice mused.

"I'm not really sure but I think it was Rena Lee or something..." the second voice replied.

They continued to talk but I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was panicking. _Rena Lee? Could it be the same Rena I know?_

_That's it! I'm definitely going to torture more information out of those idiots. _

Summoning my staff, I jumped out of the bush and cried, "Binding Circle!"

Instantly, a magic circle formed around their whole body. It stopped them from moving, for a while at least.

Standing in front of them, I crossed my arms and gave them the sweetest smile I could. "Now I ask questions and you answer. If not…" I held up my ax-like staff and spun it around in my palm. "You're both going to suffer my wrath."

That did the trick. Their faces showed complete horror.

I smirked. "Question number one: Who did you catch?" I raised my staff higher, as if warning them what will happen if they didn't answer.

They almost tripped over their own feet trying to give me the answer. "We caught a rebel and a human!"

"What's their names?" I prodded.

"Raven Mercenary and Rena Lee."

_So it was true. _I gripped my staff tighter. _Rena..._

"Last question: Where is she?" I demanded.

"That answer would be for me to know and you to find out." a voice rang out. A blond-haired boy with spiky hair walked out, frowning and carrying a huge cannon over his shoulder.

I looked at him in annoyance. "And who are you to tell me that?!"

His frown suddenly lifted up to a smirk. "Prince Chung at your service." he said, bowing. His ice-blue eyes met mine squarely after he stood back up. "And you, lowly rebel, are about to meet your end by my hands. You should be honored to die by my hands."

_Honored? Dying by a Royal's hands? _Getting into battle stance, I snickered, "That should be my line,_ Royal_."

* * *

**A/N:**** Are my characters a bit too OOC? I've gotten a PM about it… Should I put a warning in the summary? Anyway, if guys have time, check out the poll on my profile; it's for my next story… Thank you to those who favorited, followed, and reviewed. Onward to the reviews ^v^!**

**To The Cynical Asian:**** No! Don't shoot them! I need them for my plot. *puppy eyes* So… when will you start writing again? Oh yeah, did anybody adopt the story "Chung Secret?"**

**To Tsurara-Oikawa Chan:**** Oooh, you changed your profile picture! As for the anime I was talking about earlier… It was Nura not Fate:Stay…. Sorry if I confused you.**

**To xSnowflakesx:**** Thanks for the reassurance. I really DON"T want to reread Percy Jackson (I've read it so many times it's getting kind of annoying). And I've noticed something… I've been getting a lot of typos lately… Could you keep an eye out for it?**

**To Spirify:**** Ooh yay! Another new reviewer! *cries tears of joy*Don't worry Rena isn't going to die… Anytime soon that is… Anyway, thanks for reviewing my first story… **

**To RubyCrucifix:**** Eve is your favorite character? Q.Q So sorry I didn't know that… Well I'm still not sure what exactly I'm going to do to her…Or Chung for that for that matter… But I DO want to thank you for your review!**

**To xxtimexx: ****Don't worry Rena will be fine… For now hehehe… I'll post another chapter as soon as I can! Thank you for reviewing again!**

**To TsukixnoEvernight: You didn't know? I've heard some writers talk about you so I thought you were famous... Thanks for the compliments they really help me write faster...My cheek has gotten much better. Thanks for your concern and review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 7**

**- Raven POV –**

Pain woke me up. Forcing my eyes open and seeing nothing, I tried to move around. No such luck. Both my hands, including my Nasod arm, and feet were tied tightly with steel chains, since my Nasod arm could easily cut through normal ropes. At least I was in a normal sitting position, but my whole body was stiff as hell for not moving in the past few hours.

Glancing around at the room, I could see some boxes lying around gathering dust. _So, I must be in a storage room._

I winced in pain and sat back against the wall, the chains making an echoing clang. _Hell, how did things come to this?_ My mind began to wander. Pictures of people that I met flashed in my brain. _Alex, Seris, Chung, Rena, Eve, and lastly Alex again._

Alex began this hell, and I supposed he would also end this hell. Strangely enough, I didn't mind that. I didn't deserve to even live anymore.

What was the point of living when I couldn't even protect the people I cared about?

_Seris, Rena, I'm so sorry. I am the reason why Seris is dead and Rena is captured. I'm the reason why-_

"You disgust me," a familiar emotionless voice broke through my thoughts.

"Hello, Eve," I spat. "Do you greet everyone like that?"

"No," she replied. "Just those few who I hate."

Stepping closer to me, her eyes locked on mine. Gold against gold. We silently battled with our eyes, neither of us was willing to give in to the other.

"Look," she finally said, breaking off the eye contact. "I have a proposal to make." She looked down, using her bangs to hide her face.

I snorted. Like her proposal would do any good. I'd probably find myself in a worse situation if I accepted a Royal's proposal. But then again, this could be our only chance of getting out...

"Sure." _Fine, I'll take the bait._

She bent down until she was the same height as me.

"Let me say something first," she said with venom in her voice. "This," she waved her hand around the room, "and everything else I am doing right now is not for you. To be honest, I really would not care if you were dead."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "While it's nice that our feelings for each other are mutual, I don't exactly want to hear them."

She slapped me. "Wait until I finish talking, rebel!"

My tongue itched to lash out at her again, but I calmed myself down by thinking of Rena. Rena's safety now depended on me. My body tensed as a thought flashed through my mind.

Her life was practically in my hands.

"This is all for Rena," she continued quietly. Then even quieter, so that I had to strain my ears, she murmured, "My best friend..."

This time I couldn't hold myself back. "Don't you mean your ex-best friend?"

Pain flashed through her eyes, and her whole body cringed. She raised her hand and backslapped me. This time though, I knew I deserved it.

"Not another word." Her cold voice was contradicted by the tears about to fall from her closed eyes.

I fell silent. From Eve's reactions to my words, I could tell that she sincerely regretted betraying Rena.

"The proposal is that I free you and you free Rena. The catch is... You can never tell anyone that I did this." She wiped her tears before they could fall.

I nodded in agreement. She unlocked my chains and stood to the side, her face now blank and emotionless again.

Before I left though, there was a question I had to ask. Turning to Eve, I asked, "Why?"

_Why are you choosing to help someone like me?_

She met my eyes again. "This... This is the last thing I can ever do for her to repay her. For understanding me, for staying by my side, and for being my best friend even though no one else would..."

They say sympathy for the enemy is stupid. But somehow... I felt it. For Eve, it's a choice between her family and friend.

I turned to go, but she stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.

"Tell her something... For me. Tell her to smile. Tell her to please smile even though I'm not there anymore for her..."

Letting go of my shoulder, she gave me a push. "Go. Go save my best friend."

* * *

**~ - Aisha POV - ~**

This was not good. This Royal was stronger than those I fought before. All of my moves, he either countered or completely avoided. How the hell did he do that?! With that huge cannon and steel armor on, he shouldn't be able to move!

"Hell Stone!" I yelled, pointing my staff at the target.

A large stone with an eye in the middle dropped down in front of Chung. Before it could even spin once though, Chung swerved his cannon and smashed the stone into pieces.

"Shooting Star!" he countered. He fired twelve shots from his cannon and into the air. He panted heavily after releasing it, glaring at me.

Confused, I looked at him with my eyebrows raised.

"Nice aim," I snickered. What a waste of ammo.

He just continued to stand there, smiling that cold smile of his. Suddenly he pointed upwards, a cold glint in his eyes. "Good-bye."

I looked up and my eyes widened in horror. All of the twelve shots were closing in on me!

I ran as fast as I could, trying to avoid them. Every time one got too close to me, I teleported myself farther away.

Chung watched me with an amused glint in his eyes. "You can't outrun my bullets."

I gritted my teeth in frustration. _I have to go on offense. I can't be on the defense the whole time._

Getting an idea, I teleported myself further away than normal. Holding my staff in two hands, I quickly surrounded myself with an inferno of fire.

"Gust Storm!" As I expected, the bullets that followed me soon melted, due to the heat. The column of fire slowly disappeared, and I panted heavily, the toll of using so much magic catching up to me. I turned around to gloat at Chung, but he wasn't there anymore.

"Huh? You scared now, Royal?" I taunted, trying to get him out from his hiding spot. I searched around me. Nothing. I frowned. Something was w-

BANG! A sudden pain pierced my right side. Crying out, I dropped my staff and onto my knees clutching my side in pain, with the feeling warm liquid spreading across my back.

_Blood_, I thought dully. _I was losing so much blood..._

"Not bad for a rebel, but rebels are still rebels. Trash that should be taught respect." Chung's voice drifted into my ears. He threw his cannon on the ground, too tired to pick it up.

"And you Royals are nothing but power-hungry tyrants!" I spat, coughing up blood as soon I finished talking. I discreetly tried to reach for my staff, but Chung noticed and kicked it farther away.

"Such a waste of talent." Chung sighed. Taking a silver pistol from underneath his long scarf, he aimed it at my forehead. "I'll be merciful." His fingers tightened over the trigger. "Now, it's time to die."

I closed my eyes, too tired to keep them open any longer. A magician was truly useless without her staff. I couldn't use any magic without my staff which was lying on the ground few feet away.

"NO!" a familiar obnoxious voice shouted. "AISHA!"

_Elsword, don't worry I'm not dead yet... Elsword..._ I tried to open my eyes but couldn't. _Too tired... My eyes feel so heavy..._

The last thing I heard was a loud bang and then everything went black.

* * *

**A/N:**** You guys are awesome! Now I can dream of getting 100 reviews by the end of the story (I'm planning to make about 30 chapters)! I'm probably going make an omake on how Eve got her nickname Even in the end…. **

**To TsukixnoEvernight****: I don't really mind you spamming the review button. It's more reviews for me right? I know, I know I'm a greedy person who loves reviews…. Good, I really thought my characters were too OOC for a while… Anyway thanks for reviewing!**

**To Tsurara-Oikawa Chan:**** Yep! It's him in his night and day form right? Along with Yuki-onna no less… I really hope they do a better third season…**

**To The Cynical Asian:**** Ooh, you watch Fullmetal Alchemist too? It's one of my favorite animes (it's dark, morbid, and hilarious). Shouldn't Eve be the one slapping you? O.O Nice, you created some OC's… Wish I had time for that… But school is going to start soon and I have no idea when I'm going to type.**

**To xSnowflakesx****: True, I have read that book more than enough times… Have you ever read it? It's really good (if you are reading it the first time)... Hopefully this chapter answered most of your questions. Thanks of reviewing!**

**To xXHakuraXx:**** OMG! Did you change your name Mandy? Besides, what type of cookies were they?**

**To xSorcery:**** Ok, I changed it now! Thanks for catching that! Privileged? I should be the one saying that… You help me so much… *cries***


	9. Chapter 8

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 8 **

**- Rena POV -**

No.

This couldn't be true. Even would never do that. She's my best friend. _Was,_ my traitorous mind said spitefully. _She was your best friend._

I pushed myself into a sitting position on the floor, denying everything Even had told me.

**_- Flashback Few Minutes Ago –_**

_"Rena, we can't be friends anymore," she said, turning to look at me in the eyes. She was dead serious. "We are now enemies."_

_She wasn't joking. This couldn't be happening. I refused to believe it._

_"Even... Please, stop joking... This isn't even remotely funny..." I trailed off at the look she was giving me. Her eyes were blank and lifeless, her face completely emotionless._

_"Even..." I pleaded. Please, let this be a dream... Don't leave me too... Even..._

_Something slapped my right cheek, forcing me to look at reality. I was slapped... Even had just slapped me. Raising my head, I saw her quickly withdraw her hand as turned to leave. _

_Stopping by the door, she turned again to face me and whispered, "Sayonara... Sayonara, Rena." She left, closing and locking the door. _

_Tears suddenly filled my eyes. I didn't understand what she just said, but I had a gut feeling._

_Goodbye... Goodbye, Rena. _

**_- Flashback Ends -_**

I cried and cried. I cried for the loss of my best friend, Even. She was now my enemy. She left me all alone...

Just like Elsword.

Why?

Hot tears kept slipping down my cheeks. I tried to stop them but couldn't; it hurts too much.

My mind suddenly flashed images of how Even and I became friends. The words she said to me...

"Please smile." I whispered to myself over and over again.

But I couldn't.

I couldn't smile no matter how many times I said it. I wanted to smile _with her_. _With my best friend beside me._

Those were the same exact words that Even had said to me. Those were the exact same words that had made me smile when I was crying.

Questions swam in my head but only one stood out...

_Why did Even betray me?_

* * *

**~ - Chung POV - ~**

Just as I was about to pull the trigger, I heard a shout behind me.

"NO! AISHA!"

Surprised, I turned to look at the culprit only to have something slam into me, knocking the Silver Shooter out of my hands.

"Oof!" The force of the impact pushed me backwards. I was only slightly harmed due to my armor, but I was getting more pissed off by the moment.

Spinning around, I narrowly missed being impaled by a sword. It missed and smashed into the ground near me, crumbled pieces of debris flying into the air.

"So sad..." A red-haired woman spoke while pulling her sword out of the ground. "I missed." Flames surrounded her whole body, but she didn't seem to be in pain.

Picking my own weapon off the ground, I scoffed as I went into my battle stance. "What's with all the people today? Do they like getting killed?"

"Are you talking about yourself?" The woman replied with a malicious glint in her eye. "Because after what you've done to Aisha, I doubt Elsword will forgive you."

Just then I heard someone behind me scream, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

I turned around to look at the said person called Elsword. The similarities between the woman and Elsword were striking. Elsword was just another younger male version of the woman.

I saw him grit his teeth and charge toward me, his red aura and eyes making him look almost demonic. At the same time, the woman also charged toward me, her sword raised high.

_Tch. Two against one? Oh, well... Killing an extra person doesn't take too much time._

"My name is Chung Seiker of Hamel. You can fight, but be prepared to die in vain."

* * *

**~ - Raven POV - ~**

Where was she? I spent the last few minutes searching for Rena with no results.

Screaming curses at Eve for not telling me where she was kept in my head, I searched Cabin 1-2 again. Nothing but mice.

Sighing, I rushed out the cabin and ran to the next one. Cabin 1-3.

Nearing the cabin, I could hear sounds. My eyes widened as my brain processed the sounds. They were sobs.

Rena's sobs.

Slicing the door in half with my Nasod arm, I quickly entered.

"Rena?" I whispered hopefully.

Silence. Then after a while I heard something move.

"C-Crow? Is that really you?" Finally, an answer.

"Yes, it's me."

I moved around, trying to find a light switch. After a few minutes, I gave up. There obviously wasn't one.

"Rena, let's get out of here." I walked closer to her and cut the ropes with my Nasod arm.

"C'mon." She still didn't move. "Rena?"

"Y-your arm..."

"My arm? What's wrong with- Oh." I never really did tell her about my Nasod arm.

"I'll tell you later. Right now we have to get out of here." Instead of waiting for her to move, I bent down, scoped her up in my arms and ran out.

* * *

**~ - Elsword POV - ~**

"Splash Explosion!" I yelled. Summoning a rune in front of me, I sent it towards the bastard.

He merely sidestepped it and fired a shot from his silver pistol. Deflecting it to the left with my sword, I shouted, "Storm Blade!" A huge swarm of rotating blades joined together and started to spin on the ground next to me. Grimly, I wiped off the sweat on my forehead. The smell of Aisha's blood in the air didn't make me feel any calmer. If anything, it made me even more determined to kill this bastard.

Turning my head and meeting Elesis's eyes, I nodded.

_Make him come towards me._

Elesis joined in and cried, "Burst Rising!" Summoning two flaming swords from the ground around Chung, she made him retreat toward my Storm Blade.

1 foot.

I gritted my teeth. Come on, a bit more. Just a bit more until you get caught up in it.

6 inches.

"Sword Fire!" Elesis shouted. She coated her sword in flames and threw the burning fire at Chung. He dodged it but it exploded when it touched the ground, throwing him backwards.

Now!

* * *

**A/N:**** Sorry for the delay... It seems that I might be getting writer's block on this story... I know the plot and where it's supposed to go... BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET THERE! Q.Q Anyway, school has been... Well, okay for the most part, but the stress is... Nevermind. I'd like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited (is that even a word?) and reviewed!**

**To Asian:**** To be honest, I think that might be my fault… I changed the chapters around. Sorry… Oh, I saw Chung's Secret up again! Um… What does collaborate mean?**

**To Guest:**** Thanks for the compliment! Could you leave a name next time so I can thank you properly?**

**To xXOmegaWolfXx:**** Wow, you reviewed so many times! Thanks for ALL of the reviews! **

**To Alyssu-chan:**** I'm glad you love my story. Don't worry I'll keep writing!**

**To xxtimexx:**** Thanks for reviewing again! I see that you been writing more stories… I'll go read them soon~**

**To KWolf909:**** Thanks for the compliment! I also love RenaXRaven! It's one of my favorite pairs in Elsword *fangirl spasms* Er.. Anyway thanks again for reviewing!**

**To Ellie:**** Ooh~ You like Gakuen Alice too? OMG! You're the first person so far in Elsword who knows that!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Fate:Stay - Chapter 9 –**

**-Elsword POV-**

"Oberon, use Space Wrench!"

A silver X-shaped projectile came in and sliced my rotating Storm Blade in half along with my plan. Dodging the pieces, I looked back and saw the culprit.

"Eve?!"

"Hello again, Elsword." There stood Rena's best friend with a strange human-like robot by her side. "Who would've thought this was how we would meet again..."

"Yeah, who would've thought? Wait a minute." Realization sunk in as I stared at her helping Chung stand up. "You can't be..."

Turning to face me with an air of a queen, she sharply said, "Let me reintroduce myself, rebel. I'm one of the Royals. To be specific, I'm Queen Evelyn of Altera."

A Royal?! Rena's best friend was a Royal? Did Rena know about this? Did she know about Elrios already?

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I didn't hear Eve whisper two words.

"Heaven's Fist."

"ELSWORD, DODGE!" Elesis shouted. I immediately jumped to the side. Not even a half of a second later, a huge creaky metal fist slammed into the ground where I was once at, creating shockwaves that knocked both Elesis and me down.

"Sis, you okay?" I struggled, trying to get back on my feet.

"I'm fine..."

At her tone of voice, I snapped my head in her direction. Oh, no. Elesis was clutching her ankle tightly, her face pale and twisted into a look of pain.

"Sis!" I yelled in alarm. She couldn't fight in that condition. "Retreat and just take care of Aisha!"

"Don't order me around, Elsword," she snapped. "I'm perfectly fine!"

Before I could argue more, Eve interrupted us with a single word.

"Goodbye." Eve said with a hint of emotion that I couldn't understand. Why would she have regret in her voice? I must be going crazy. Royals like her were the ones who mercilessly killed townsfolk that disobeyed their rules.

But why? Why were her hands shaking? She pushed her trembling hands outward prepared to use a move, but Chung gently pushed her aside.

"Eve." Chung stepped in front of her and reloaded his cannon. "Stand back. You don't need to kill anyone. There is no need to taint your hands even more. I'll take care of this."

With those words, Eve bit her lip and stood back, hanging her head slightly as if she was ashamed.

Chung didn't waste any more time and charged toward Elesis, intending to finish her off first. As if I'll let him.

I finally pushed myself to my feet and ran in front of Elesis, shooting a firey rune at him.

"Splash Explosion!"

He sidestepped my rune and quickly countered, "Shooting Star!"

After firing twelve shots into the air, he panted heavily, almost completely leaning against his cannon. I raised my eyebrow. Horrible aim?

Not stopping to think about it, I took advantage of his fatigue and mindlessly charged toward Chung. He blocked my sword, though his movements were much slower.

"No!" I heard a shout behind me. Elesis? "Behind you, Elsword!"

Behind me? What is she talking about?

"Phoenix Tal-!"

A sudden jolt of pain tore through my left shoulder stopping me from completing my move.

"Ugh!" I clutched my shoulder in pain, trying to stop the blood from flowing out too quickly.

More jolts of pain cut through my legs and numbed my entire arm as all the bullets hit home. Falling to my knees because my legs could no longer support my weight, I tried my best to stem the bleeding.

Crap. I really shouldn't have fallen for that. It seems as if the move called Shooting Star had homing bullets that followed the opponent around.

Wincing as I moved my arm, I glared at Chung. His own face was pale as sheet, yet he stood there, ready to fight if necessary.

How was I going to fight? My legs could barely support me while both of my arms I used to wield my sword and shoot Runes was severely injured. But... I had to protect them. I had to protect Aisha and Elesis...

"I was wondering what your red hair would look like stained with your blood," Chung aimed his silver pistol at me.

"Now that I know, it's time to say your farewells."

My consciousness was slowly ebbing away into darkness. The part of me that was still awake screamed at me to dodge, to fight back. But I couldn't move my body... I was losing so much blood.

Suddenly, a familiar scream filled the clearing.

"DAD!"

Even my dulling senses immediately recognized the voice. That tone... Rena? Is that you?

* * *

**~ - Rena POV - ~**

"DAD!" I screamed.

Jumping out of Crow's arms, I ran to the fallen, red-haired swordsman.

Never mind the branches and twigs that scraped my face and arms. Never mind the times I tripped over. Elsword was in trouble.

That thought propelled me forward in a speed that rivaled light. Forcing myself right in front of Elsword and spreading out my arms, I prevented Chung from getting a clear shot at him.

"STOP! JUST STOP!"

"R-Rena?" I could hear Elsword behind me trying to force himself to get up, panting from the toll it was taking on his body. "G-get out of h-here."

"No, I won't," I said almost in a deadpan.

Looking directly at Chung, I almost flinched at the look he gave me. Annoyance, disgust, and… Confusion? Even was standing directly behind him, looking anything everywhere but me.

"You…" He didn't lower his silver pistol a single inch. Instead he aimed it directly at my forehead. "How did you get free?"

"That would be my doing."

Crow stood behind Chung, the tip of his machine-like hand pointing at Chung's throat.

"Put down your weapon." Crow's voice was like steel, cold and unshakable. "Or I will slit your throat."

"Clever," Chung snorted. He reluctantly lowered his pistol, but continued to talk. "Rebel, both you and the girl should surrender now. If you don't, the consequences of being captured later will be worse."

"Crow…" I whispered. Looking at his face now, I could see that it was a hard choice for him. He gritted his teeth and his free hand curled into a fist. "Crow, I don't care about that. I have to save Elsword." No response.

"Heaven's Fist."

A huge creaky fist slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves that hurtled both Crow and I into the air. Both of us landed behind Elsword, with me on top of Crow. Coughing dust out of my lungs, I immediately pushed myself off of Crow and rushed over to Elsword.

"Elsword!" I knelt in front of him and gently helped him get up with my arm supporting most of his weight. He looked like he was about to black out. Beads of sweat covered his paler than usual face as he struggled to stay awake and moving.

"Rena, take him and get away from here." Crow extended his machine-like arm toward Chung, his eyes not straying from the battle. "I can take care Chung."

"R-Rena." Elsword could barely speak without coughing out blood. "Leave me… T-take Aisha and r-run."

Aisha? Aisha was here too? Was… Was she hurt also?

I looked around, searching for her. A flash of purple and red in the shadows caught my eye. A woman with red hair stood over Aisha, her expression of anger and frustration clearly visible from where I stood.

"Aisha?" I called, trying my best to support Elsword and run at the same time. "Elsword needs help-" My words died out as I reached her. The sight before me was too shocking.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I bent to examine her gaping wound, lying Elsword behind her. Her whole body, including her pigtailed hair, was matted in blood and gashes covered her whole body. Glassy eyes stared at me as she leaned against Elsword, only half-awake.

"I'm alive," she croaked, trying to reassure me.

"Sniff…" Wiping tears that were turning into an accumulating and never ending stream on the back of my hand, I forced myself to smile. Albeit shakily.

"Aisha, come on. We're going to get out of here. No matter what."

The woman with red hair finally spoke. "I suppose you have a plan?"

"….."

She sighed, kneading her forehead, already knowing the answer. "You're just like Elsword. Running into a battlefield with no plan, hoping that luck would be on your side…" With a grim smile, she pushed herself up, wincing as she put weight on her left foot. "I have one, though it requires a bit of a sacrifice."

"No," Elsword cut in. "You can't, Elesis. I'm not going to let you be the bait."

"I'm stronger than you, Elsword. I can take care of myself," Elesis said firmly. "Look, while I go distract Chung, you guys should run for the portal. Aisha, do you have enough energy to teleport?"

"Yes."

Wait. Wait. Portal? Teleport? What are they talking about? I didn't think science has advanced _that _much…

Seeing my confused face, Elsword shook his head. "Not now, Rena. Later, when I have time." He bit his lip. "Though I wished I would never have to tell you this," he added bitterly.

"The portal will open in 15 seconds." Elesis readied her sword. "Go now!" Elesis wasted no time and immediately charged toward battle to help Crow.

"Rena!" Elsword grabbed my hand and placed it on Aisha's shoulder. "Hold on to Aisha. She's teleporting."

Aisha had her eyes closed in concentration. Beads of sweat dripped down her face, as she tried her best not to faint again. My hands tightened on her shoulder, silently giving her my support.

Slowly, the world around me disappeared. My sense of reality warped and twisted until I could no longer sense the time passing. I closed my eyes, trying not to get woozy.

"Done," I heard Aisha whisper. When I opened my eyes again, everything was normal and Aisha was passed out cold.

"Jump into the portal now!" Elsword picked up Aisha gently and carried her bridal-style. "C'mon, before it's too late!"

Uh… What does a portal look like?

* * *

**~ - Raven POV- ~**

Panting, I flung myself to the left as Eve used Heaven's Fist again.

"Valkyrie's Javelin!" I materialized black javelins in the air and crashed them down, aiming only to slow them down. I knew I couldn't win this fight. Not before I went… Berserk. The javelins exploded, scorching the ground and giving both of them burns.

"Genocide Ripper!"

"Rumble Shot!"

The white Nasod from before dashed toward me at an extreme speed, followed by a huge pulsating cannonball from behind.

Acting at fast as I could, I utilized my arm to surround myself inside a black sphere, sending out sharp metal needles in all directions as an act of defense.

"Charged Bolt!"

"Hey," a voice called out. "Looks like you're having fun."

A red-haired woman stepped out from beside a tree, "Need help?"

Walking past me, she stopped a moment to say, "Go to the portal now. I can take care of this myself." With those words said, she faced both Chung and Eve. Flicking her hair from behind her, she raised her sword, pointing it at them. "Now, let the real fight begin!"

* * *

**A/N:**** I updated… After what, a month? T-T Writer's block (the purest form of evil) + homework (school… sigh) = Late chapter. Anyway, Tactical Trooper finally came out! My HM (soon to be EM) is getting killed by them Q.Q I wonder when Ara and Elesis will come to the U.S… Other than that, thanks for following, favoriting, and reviewing~**

**Raven- Weapon Taker-** Thanks for the reminder! It was weird because I was thinking about updating it soon and then BAM! your review came in. Sorry for the wait~

**HelloKitty55443-** Next chapter is up! XD Hope you like it?

**xSorcery- **Lol, I'm the same way Lils. I don't remember to review a lot of stories *is trying to break the habit of being a silent reader* Both you and my English III teacher really help me on my grammar and writing ^^ Thanks so much Lils~ Descriptions are kinda hard for me because… Well, I don't pay attention to a lot things… Sigh… I was never good at art anyway. Thanks for the offer, I might take you up on that one day!

**xxtimexx- **Thanks~ Is Mena another one of your OCs? I wish I could have enough time to create some of my own OCs…

**The Cynical Asian- **Interesting… Update it soon~ That collaboration thing sounds like a lot of work… Then again, I'm a lazy person by nature ^^;; Lol, I never read Fate/Stay Night before? Is it good? O.O If it's with adult content then nevermind… Wow, you haven't seen any grammar errors yet?

**xXHakuraXx- **Hey, Mandy~ *looks around* Where's the cookies?

**FANG ee- **Ooh~! You're a fan of RavenXRena too?! Yay, more Reven lovers~ I like making characters twisted so that nobody can guess what they are about to do… *shrugs* Maybe it's just me. XD The next chapter is here!

**Orithia WindBell- ** Yes, a best friend's betrayal always hurt the worst… This is the first time you reviewed this story, I'm honored. Thanks for the compliment~ Hope you liked this chapter?

**KWolf909-** I like Chung too~ Especially TT, those ears… Why do you want Raven to tell her his real name? O.O I updated! Hope you didn't wait too long? *shot*


End file.
